Iowa, 2019

Heavy Snow in Iowa, January 18 to 19, 2019

January 18 to 19, 2019 · NWS ARX · 8 events in 8 counties and zones

A band of heavy snow fell across much of northeast Iowa on January 18th. Amounts from this winter storm ranged from 5 to 14 inches with the highest totals occurring across Howard and Winneshiek Counties.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 8 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.

  • Tornadoes
  • Tropical storms and surge
  • Floods
  • Wind
  • Hail
  • Winter weather
  • Heat and drought
  • Cold
  • Fire, smoke and dust
  • Marine and coastal
  • Other

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
None recorded
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
8

Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.

What happened

The episode as NWS ARX wrote it up.

A band of heavy snow fell across much of northeast Iowa on January 18th. Amounts from this winter storm ranged from 5 to 14 inches with the highest totals occurring across Howard and Winneshiek Counties. The largest reported totals were 14 inches near Bluffton (Winneshiek County) and 13.5 inches in Lime Springs (Howard County).

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS La Crosse, WI wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jan 17, 5:36 PM CST, 16 hours 24 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 17, 5:36 PM CST, 16 hours 24 minutes before
<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="utf-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
  <title>Service Notice</title>
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="index.css">
</head>
<body>
  <main class="wrap">
    <section class="card" role="status" aria-live="polite">
      <div class="status" id="status">Temporary Notice</div>
      <h1 id="headline">This service is currently unavailable.</h1>
      <p id="message1">
        The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
      </p>
      <p id="message2">
        Please try again in a few minutes.
      </p>
      <p class="small" id="detail">
        If you are an administrator, restore upstream service and remove the redirect/fallback rule when normal operations resume.
      </p>
    </section>
  </main>
  <script src="index.js"></script>
</body>
</html>
Hazardous weather outlook, Jan 17, 2:28 PM CST, 19 hours 32 minutes before
<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="utf-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
  <title>Service Notice</title>
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="index.css">
</head>
<body>
  <main class="wrap">
    <section class="card" role="status" aria-live="polite">
      <div class="status" id="status">Temporary Notice</div>
      <h1 id="headline">This service is currently unavailable.</h1>
      <p id="message1">
        The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
      </p>
      <p id="message2">
        Please try again in a few minutes.
      </p>
      <p class="small" id="detail">
        If you are an administrator, restore upstream service and remove the redirect/fallback rule when normal operations resume.
      </p>
    </section>
  </main>
  <script src="index.js"></script>
</body>
</html>

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

8 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.

Heavy Snow, Floyd

When
January 18, 10:00 AM CST to January 19, 3:30 AM CST
Where
Floyd forecast zone
Reported by
COOP Observer
Coordinates
43.060, -92.789 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

COOP and volunteer snow observers reported that between 4 and 7 inches of snow fell across Floyd County. The highest reported total was 7 inches near Nora Springs.

Heavy Snow, Mitchell

When
January 18, 10:00 AM CST to January 19, 3:30 AM CST
Where
Mitchell forecast zone
Reported by
COOP Observer
Coordinates
43.356, -92.789 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

COOP and volunteer snow observers reported that between 8 and 10 inches of snow fell across Mitchell County. The highest reported total was 10.5 inches in Carpenter.

Heavy Snow, Winneshiek

When
January 18, 10:15 AM CST to January 19, 5:00 AM CST
Where
Winneshiek forecast zone
Reported by
COOP Observer
Coordinates
43.291, -91.844 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

COOP and volunteer snow observers reported that between 11 and 14 inches of snow fell across Winneshiek County. The highest reported total was 14 inches near Bluffton.

Heavy Snow, Howard

When
January 18, 10:20 AM CST to January 19, 4:00 AM CST
Where
Howard forecast zone
Reported by
COOP Observer
Coordinates
43.357, -92.317 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

COOP and volunteer snow observers reported that between 8 and 13 inches of snow fell across Howard County. The highest reported total was 13.5 inches in Lime Springs.

Heavy Snow, Chickasaw

When
January 18, 10:30 AM CST to January 19, 4:30 AM CST
Where
Chickasaw forecast zone
Reported by
COOP Observer
Coordinates
43.060, -92.318 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

COOP and volunteer snow observers reported that between 5 and 9 inches of snow fell across Chickasaw County.

Heavy Snow, Fayette

When
January 18, 10:45 AM CST to January 19, 6:00 AM CST
Where
Fayette forecast zone
Reported by
COOP Observer
Coordinates
42.863, -91.844 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

COOP and volunteer snow observers reported that between 5 and 10 inches of snow fell across Fayette County. The highest reported total was 10.5 inches in West Union.

Heavy Snow, Allamakee

When
January 18, 11:00 AM CST to January 19, 5:30 AM CST
Where
Allamakee forecast zone
Reported by
COOP Observer
Coordinates
43.284, -91.378 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

COOP and volunteer snow observers reported that between 5 and 11 inches of snow fell across Allamakee County. The highest reported total was 11.3 inches in Waukon.

Heavy Snow, Clayton

When
January 18, 11:15 AM CST to January 19, 6:00 AM CST
Where
Clayton forecast zone
Reported by
COOP Observer
Coordinates
42.845, -91.341 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

COOP and volunteer snow observers reported that between 6 and 11 inches of snow fell across Clayton County. The highest reported total was 11 inches in Monona.

What these are

Heavy Snow
Snowfall reaching the local warning threshold without the other hazards of a winter storm.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Iowa in 2019Every state in 2019This day in weather historyWarnings in Iowa, January 2019

Sources

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-10-01. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 797375, 797379, 797381, 797376, 797371, 797374, 797368, 797373.